The Wrong Turn
by Thomas Mc
Summary: Vincent encounters some intruders from a totally unexpected direction. This little bit of nonsense occurred to me in a fit of whimsy right after watching an old Jules Verne movie.


**Wrong Turn**

**By Thomas Mc**

_This little bit of nonsense occurred to me in a fit of whimsy right after watching an old Jules Verne movie. (Note: Some one pointed out that I had the wrong name for the chamber in question so I have fixed that.) _

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Vincent was sitting in his chamber reading an old favorite Jules Verne novel when Samantha came running in. "Vincent! Vincent, I heard voices."

He sat up straight. "Where did you hear voices, Samantha." He wondered if she had heard intruders somewhere.

She grabbed his hand. "In the Whispering Gallery." She tugged on his hand, trying to get him to come with her.

Vincent relaxed. "There are always voices in that chamber, Samantha. You know that. They come from the world above." He shook his head. Everybody knew about the Whispering Gallery. The children especially were fond of going there.

Her brow crinkled. "No, these didn't come from above. They came from below." She continued to pull on his hand.

Intrigued now, Vincent got up and followed Samantha. It was well known that if you were very quiet in that specific chamber you could hear sounds from various places in the world above, depending on where you stood. The one thing they all had in common was that the sounds always seemed to be coming from overhead. The only thing that ever came from below was the perpetual fog from the bottomless chasm under the bridge.

When they reached the chamber Samantha dragged him out to the very center of the bridge and stood expectantly. They stood there for a long time and heard nothing except the sound of a gentle breeze going downward into the chasm. Samantha began to get antsy, shifting from one foot to the other and looking up at Vincent with a growing air of embarrassment and disappointment.

The breeze shifted direction so that it was now moving upward out of the chasm bringing a bit of the mist with it. This was a common occurrence. It was a common joke that the chasm breathed, reversing direction several times in a day.

Then he heard a sharp sound, like metal hitting rock. It was definitely coming from below. From the abyss. Then there were several sharp reports that sounded much like a hammer hitting another piece of metal. Then it stopped. After a while there was a scraping sound. Another shifting sound.

A man's voice called out. "Alec, do you see anything at all?"

A second man's voice called. "Nothing, Professor. This mist is so thick I cant see more than three feet in front of me."

A woman's voice screamed. Then the first man called. "Carla, Are you alright?"

A woman replied, "I'm fine, Professor. A rock shifted and I momentarily lost my footing." In a weary voice she asked. "How much further do you think we have to go Professor?"

Then there was a third male voice speaking in some foreign language. It was answered by the woman's voice in what sounded like the same language.

The First man asked. "What did Hans want?"

The woman replied. "He just wanted to know how close we were to the surface."

The first man responded, "I don't know for sure but we should be getting very close. My best guess is that we are less than ten miles down. However it is just a guess."

The second man called out. "Professor, I see light above."

Vincent looked down and saw movement in the mists of the chasm. The breeze changed directions again pushing the mist downward. Fifty feet down a figure came into view. He was decked out in full climbing gear. His cloths however were in tatters.

The young man looked up and stared right at Vincent. With out taking his eyes off him the young man called down in the second man's voice. "Professor Lindenbrook, I think we made a wrong turn back there. "

The first man's voice responded. "What do you mean Alec?"

The young man commented "Saknussem said that the lava tube came out in a volcano in Italy and that does not look like Italy to me."

At that point a elderly man came into view, his clothes just as tattered as the young man's. A second later a woman came into view, also dressed in tattered clothing. All three were tied together by rope. It looked like there was at least a fourth person still concealed by the mist.

The older man now caught sight of Vincent. "My word. Where have we ended up?"

Vincent could sense both fear and great fatigue from all of them. Samantha waved down at the strangers. "Hello, who are you?"

"Definitely not Italian." The older man remarked.

The woman then got a look at Vincent. "Professor." Her eyes were as big as saucers. "What is that creature beside that little girl?"

"His name is Vincent." Samantha called down. "He's my friend."

Vincent just stared. His mind had been in a whorl since he had heard them mention the name Saknussem. It was impossible. Jules Verne was just an author. Sure the pit was rumored to be bottomless and some joked that it probably went all the way to the center of the earth, but this was just plain absurd.

_**The End**_

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_Authors Note: __In case you don't recognize the character names they are from the 1959 version of **Journey To The Center of the Earth**._

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'**Beauty and the Beast'** and its characters are owned by Witt-Thomas Productions and Republic Pictures. No infringement on copyrights is intended. This story is presented merely for the enjoyment of fans. Original concepts and story elements may be used by other authors as long as appropriate credit is given.


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